C. M. Tisdale’s Neighborhood

Gradlon then founded Quimper and on his death, a statue representing him on horseback looking in the direction of Ys was erected on the Saint Corentin Cathedral and still stands there. French Bretons have also a longer version of the legend, that says that Ys was the most wonderful city in the world, and that Lutece was renamed Paris after Ys was destroyed.

The most mysterious factor in the legend of Ys is that the location of the city is well defined. There is the statue of Gradlon looks at it, most of the localities mentioned exist. Also several ancient Roman roads actually lead into the sea, which strenghtened the belief that they lead to Ys. So, in fact, this myth could depict the real engulfment of a real city during the fifth century. Some specialists consider the story of Ys as the way to describe the victory of Christianity over Celtic gods. In the legend king Gradlon was converted by Saint Winwaloe over druidism, while Gradlon’s daughter Dahut and most inhabitants of Ys were worshipers of Celtic gods. However, a Breton folktale version states that Gradlon met, spoke with and consoled the last Druid in Brittany, and oversaw his pagan burial, before building a chapel in his sacred grove.

Ys is a Celtic word for a mythical city. According to the legend it was built in in the Douarnenez bay in Brittany by Gradlon, King of Cornouaille, for his daughter Dahut. Ys was built below sea level, protected from inundation by a dike. The only keys of the gate in the dam were held by Gradlon. I had to spend some hours on Internet and in my local web analytics company to find what this story was about.

Satan made Gradlon’s daughter Dahut steal them and give them to him. He then opened the gate and Ys was flooded. In some versions of the story, Satan was sent by God to punish the city, whose inhabitants were becoming decadent. Other versions tell that Dahut stole the keys either at her lover’s request or in order to open the gates of the city to let her lover in. The only survivor was the King Gradlon, who was advised to abandon his daughter. Everyone who lived in the city died, while the souls of the dead children were then swallowed by the ocean as a punishment. The legend claims that, one can still hear the bells of Ys, warning of a storm.

Read on ...

Madam Blavatsky book was followed later by other creations of the occult writers. One of them claimed that survivors from a sunken continent Lemuria were living in or on Mount Shasta in northern California. The Lemurians lived in a complex of tunnels beneath the mountain and occasionally were seen walking the surface dressed in white robes.
Later popular novels also repeated the belief that Lemurians inhabit Mount Shasta. Some of the writers linked Lemurians to Ancient Egypt, UFOs and a method of travel called vortex portals to sacred places on Earth and points unknown in the universe.

There were other fantasy descriptions of the lost continent and its inhabitants. For example, Lemuria was posted as the homeland of a reptilian race of creatures, often identified with dragons or nagas. Various bits of mythology and folklore were assembled in support, such as the Cambodian naga traditions. Folkloric claims of Australian aborigines sighting dinosaur-like creatures were also often viewed as evidence.

How do you travel to and from work - personal vehicle, bus, subway/train, pedal power? What does it cost you per week in gas or fares?
Submitted by Jan.

The Walk Home

I'm verrrry happy that I have a lovely 20 minute walk to work. Even in winter, 20 minutes in the frigid cold is better than an hour stuck in bumper-to-bumper.

Every so often, I find myself stuck in rush hour traffic - if I need to drive to a an appointment or something. And every single time that happens I think to myself, "there's not way I could ever do this on a daily basis. It's inconceivable!"

Nope. Downtown livin' is where it's at, people! Never will I regret our decision to buy where we did.

Waiting for the bus near where I live, with a troubadour band on my left, approaching troubadour band on the right, a white girl in pink kimono in front, me thinking this has gone too far.

Walkscore.com recently ranked America's most walkable neighborhoods and cities. Where does your hometown land in the rankings? And how much do you actually find yourself walking instead of driving?

My neighborhood scored a 69, which puts it in the "somewhat walkable" category. I very rarely walk here, though. Yes, many things are nearby. But to walk to them, I'd have to go down either Clayton (which has a fair amount of gang-related activity) or Cliffside (which doesn't even have much of a shoulder, let alone sidewalks). And then I'd have to walk on Main and/or 20th, both very busy streets with no sidewalks and lots of commercial driveways and parking lots. Also, my main nearby destination is Safeway, and I usually buy more there than I can carry. So it just makes more sense to drive. I just try to plan my trips for greatest efficiency, which is easier to do due to the close proximity of so many businesses.

Just checking out some of my old neighborhoods:

Muskego, WI: 40, car-dependent

Springfield, MO (north side): 62, 52, and 63, somewhat walkable

Springfield, MO (south side): 74, very walkable

Springfield, MO (east side): 63, somewhat walkable

Columbia, MO: 85, very walkable; 34, car-dependent

Marshall, MO: 57, somewhat walkable

Last night I attended the Santa Fe Opera's opening night of Radamisto, a Baroque opera composed by Handel. I love Baroque music, Handel's in particular. I thoroughly enjoyed the overture. And then ::sigh:: they started singing. I guess it was to be expected.

Of course, these were highly skilled singers. And I suppose I was mostly impressed by their abilities. The main exception to this was David Daniels in the title role; his voice had an edge to it that set my teeth on, well, edge. It didn't help that it was so high. I liked the richness of Luca Pisaroni's and Kevin Murphy's voices, but all that high-pitched caterwauling (albeit very talented caterwauling) just made it harder to hear the orchestra. And I didn't like Tigrane being sung by a female. Yes, I know this casting was traditional, but I don't have to like it. And I don't. So there.

Speaking of Heidi Stober as Tigrane....WTF was up with her costume?? The other performers were attired in beautiful costumes that were vaguely, if not altogether consistently, Oriental. I'm not sure I liked these costuming choices in the big picture, but at least they kinda sorta suited each other and the story. Kinda. Sorta. But Ms Stober came onstage looking like Wardrobe had lost her costume, so they put her in what they had handy, which was what John Rhys-Davies wore in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Except that, as an interesting flourish, Ms Stober wore Birkenstock sandals.

At intermission, I heard quite a bit of complaining about the staging, and I'm not sure exactly what they meant by this. I rather liked the set design, which depended heavily on creative lighting and the use of mirrors. But the blocking was odd in a thoroughly uninspired fashion. There were portions of the performance during which I was more visually entertained by the flickering of the Los Alamos city lights in the distance. And when I returned to my seat after intermission (which featured a spectacular moonrise and a pleasant breeze), I noticed that the audience had thinned considerably. (I had paid my $83, though, and I was going to stay for the whole thing, no matter what.)

So, yes, I remain an unrepentant opera philistine. But the venue is quite nice, with fantastic acoustics, a helpful electronic libretto system, and a beautiful setting, so I expect I will give the SFO another try next season, perhaps with a less obscure production. In the meantime, I'm anxious to see what the professional reviewers made of this one. 

How do you travel to and from work - personal vehicle, bus, subway/train, pedal power? What does it cost you per week in gas or fares?
Submitted by Jan.

I drive my personal vehicle, a 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser that still tends to get 25-30 mpg.

Ténèbre at White Sands

(Her name is Ténèbre.) I don't have a whole lot of choice, as my job is in the next town, 10 miles away, and there's nothing workable as far as mass transit goes. On occasion, I do carpool with Pax, who works in the same complex I do, but our schedules are different enough that we only do that when my girl is at the dealer for her well baby visit or something. I have gone to a four-day workweek, though, which saves a little bit of money.